For the third year in a row Christmas arrived a little early for Dale Jarrett and the UPS Team with The UPS Store/Toys for Tots paint scheme taking over the familiar brown, white and gold colors of the UPS Toyota. The UPS Store is celebrating its third year as a national sponsor for Toys for Tots and the UPS Racing Team got in on the action this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The 2005 NASCAR season marked the first time Jarrett raced a special paint scheme celebrating the Toys for Tots program. One difference for the 2007 edition of the program was the location of the race. Activities for Toys for Tots are kicking off a little earlier in 2007 which resulted in Jarrett racing the #44 The UPS Store/Toys for Tots Toyota at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The UPS Store kicked off its fund-raising efforts on Friday, October 26 when participating The UPS Store locations started selling $1 commemorative donation cards. Sales of the cards will continue through December 24 and all proceeds from the sales will be used to support Toys for Tots programs in the communities where the funds are raised.
The UPS Store used the #44 The UPS Store/Toys for Tots Toyota to generate even more awareness for the program. The special paint scheme raced by the team in Atlanta once again was determined through a national coloring contest that gave one lucky winner the opportunity to watch his or her paint scheme race live and in-person at the Pep Boys Auto 500 in Atlanta. The lucky winner was a 12-year old from Emerson, N.J. named Vincent Giacalone.
Giacalone attended the Pep Boys Auto 500 as a special guest of UPS and Jarrett after winning the "Design Dale's New Ride" coloring contest that determined the paint scheme for the 2007 edition of The UPS Store/Toys for Tots paint scheme. Giacalone, along with his parents, participated in a special behind-the-scenes tour of the NASCAR garage and took in the racing action from on the of the skybox suites at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Prior to the race the Giacalone family participated in a private meet and greet with Jarrett in the driver/owner lot of AMS.
"I've been watching races since I was seven years old," said Giacalone, who has also attended NASCAR races in Daytona and Dover. "I found out about the Toys for Tots contest on the Internet and I thought it would be a great way to show my creative side."
Giacalone's entry was selected from among nearly 1,200 entries submitted as part of the "Design Dale's New Ride" coloring contest. In addition to the trip to Atlanta, Giacalone won his own personal firesuit that matches the won Jarrett wore in the Pep Boys Auto 500. Also part of his prize package is a visit by The UPS Store/Toys for Tots Toyota show car to his school where he plans to host his own toy drive on behalf of Toys for Tots.
The Toys for Tots weekend culminated with the race itself at Atlanta in which Jarrett and the UPS Team qualified third. After battling handling conditions for much of the event Jarrett raced The UPS Store/Toys for Tots Toyota to a 19th-place finish – the UPS Team's best finish of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.
"We were fighting a grip issue off the corner pretty much all day," Jarrett said after the race. "We just never could get that out of the car and get some bite but all in all it was a good day for us. The bigger thing is that hopefully we created some interest in the Toys for Tots program and what people can do to contribute to a very worthy program."
